Conduit electric railway.



.110. 884,517. PATENTBD APR. 14, 1908.

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CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY. APPLIUATIoN-HLED AUG. 9, 190s.

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@Hommage No..884,5l7`. PATENTED APR.`14, 1908. GONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

L. W. MUSIGK.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9, 1906 L I/l. Musick.

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LEWIS WELLS MUSICK, OF CRESCENT CITY, CALIFORNIA.

CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 14, 1908.

Application filed August 9, 1906. Serial No. 329,912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEwIs WELLS MUsIoK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Crescent City, in the county of Del Norte Y and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conduit Electric Railways; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enab e others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention is an improved conduit electric railway, and it consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a top plan view of my'improved conduit electric railway, with parts broken away to disclose Subj acent constructions, and with a diagrammatic representation of a car truck on the said railway Fig. 2 is partly an elevation and partly a sectional view of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View ofthe same. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View through the trolley and its hangers, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the feed conductor showing the bare or insulated portion 9.V

The track rails 1 are secured to and supported on cross ties 2, which. have recesses 3 1n their upper sides at their centers. Slot rails 1 are secured on the central portions of the ties at opposite sides of the recesses 3 to form the slot 5 between them. The trackway is divided into sections 6 of suitable length, two of said sections being here indicated. The feed conductor 7 is common to all of the sections and is here shown as carried in recesses S in the upper sides of the ties 2. Said feed conductor is preferably insulated and is provided at the center of each section with a bare, uninsulated portion 9. Each section is provided with a trolley-conducting bar 11, the .length of which is nearly equal to that of said section. The said trolley-conducting bars are disposed and are vertically movable in the recesses 3. The ends of said trolleyeconducting bars are downturned at a suitable angle, as shown in Fig. 2, and form cams. Each trolley-conducting bar is su ported and is vertically movable by a longiturinally-disposed rock-shaft 12, which has its bearings, as at 13, under one of the slotl rails and 1s provided with rock-arms to which the trolley-conducting bar is attached. To the center of each trolley-conducting bar and each rock-shaft is attached a-conducting rock-arm 14, which is under the bared uninsulated portion of the feed conductor, and which by its own weight normally raises the trolley-conducting bar and lies with its free end out of contact with the feed conductor. When the trolley-conducting bar is depressed by the trolley wheel of the car, as hereinafter more fully described, the said conducting-arm 14 is partially turned, so that its free weighted end is raised and comes in contact with the bared uninsulated portion of the feed conductor, and hence current is carried from said conductor through said arm 14 and said trolley-conducting bar to the trolley wheel and from the latter to the motor of the car.

My improved railway is here shown with its 'cross-ties sunk in the street or road, and as covered so as to entirely conceal all portions of the railway excepting the track rails and the slot rails.

The car truck indicated at 15 may be of any suitable'construction, and will be provided with a suitable electric motor, .here indicated at 16. At each end of the truck is a trolley-hanger 17, which depends therefrom, andhas a trolley fork formed with a pair of arms 18, between which the trolley wheel operates, and a depending guard arm 19 to operate in the slot of the railway in front or rear of the trolley Wheel, as the case may be. Each trolley wheel comprises a current conducting disk 20, made of brass or other suitable material, a pair of insulating disks 21 on opposite sides thereof, and a pair of fastening and strengthening disks 22 on the outer sides of said insulating disks, each of which is provided on its outer side with a hub portion 23. A trolley shaft or axle 24 extends through openings in the centers of said disks 20, 21 and 22, said opening in said .disk 2O being sufliciently large to prevent said disk from coming 1n contact with said shaft. Nuts 25 are secured on said shaft and bear against the outer sides of the hub portions of the disks 22 and serve to clamp the disks 20, 21 and 22 together, as will be understood. Said shaft 24 has its bearings in the arms 18 of the trolley fork. A pair of feed conductors 26 lead from the motor through the tubular portions of the trolley hangers 17 and are insulated. Contact brushes 27l are hinged to the ends of said conductors 26 so as to extend in opposite directions and bear on the peripheries of the trolley disks 20 to take current\ therefrom, as will be understood. rlhe length of the spaces between the trolley hangers and between the trolley-conducting bars is such that as the car passes from one section of the railway to another, the foref) most trolley wheel will enga e and depress the trolley-conducting bar in t e next section ahead before the rear trolley wheel leaves the rear section, and hence the motor will be constantly supplied with current from the feed conductor as the car progresses. The return current may be grounded or carried off by any approved means in accordance with any of the various modes now practiced.

. Since the conducting arms 14 by their own gravity are normally out of contact with the feed conductor, the trolley-conducting bars except that or those two engaged and depressed by the trolley wheels of a car, are electrically disconnected from the feed conductor, and hence danger from the contact of persons or objects with the trolley-conducting bars below the slot ll is obviated. In practice, the weight and leverage of the Conducting arms is so considerable that the trolle -conductin bars could not become casually depresse and electrically connected Y with the feed conductor.

and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention, as defined by th'e appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

An electric railway comprising a track, the ties being each recessed intermediate the rails, slot rails on the ties adjacent to said recesses and spaced-apart, a conductor on the ties adjacent to one of the track rails, bearings under one of the slotrails, a plurality of rock shafts journaled therein, each havin@ its ends bent laterally to form rock arms and extended underneath the space between the slot rails, a conducting bar secured to said arms, and having its ends bent downward, and a conducting rock arm secured at one end to the central portion of said shaft and bar and having its free end extended under said conductor, and means for engaging with and depressing the bars, so as to place the free end of each rock arm into electrical contact with the conductor.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses. 1

LEWIS WELLS MUSICK.

Witnesses:

EDWARD C. HERsoH, IRENE H. MUsIcK. 

